Logstor is 20 miles east of Thisted and we woke to our third day of easterly winds. We set out beating with one reef in the main but thought it more prudent to motor sail through the channel which separates Mors from northern Jutland. Danish buoys are notoriously difficult to spot until you are right on top of them and so careful navigation was required for the 11 mile passage across the Logstor Bredning. We decided to sail this in two stages, first beating eastwards to the Holmtage Hage buoy and then closehauled to make the offing buoy marking the end of the 3 mile Logstor channel. The large sandbar west of the town has a water depth of less than 1m. This used to inhibit ships from entering the eastern Limfjord until Frederick VII's canal was completed in 1861. The canal, built by hand, allowed ships to bypass the sandbar, reach Logstor and so traverse the Limfjord. However a channel was dredged across the sandbar between 1898 and 1901 and in 1913 the old canal was closed. The northern part of the canal is now used as a harbour whilst its southern part supports a rich and thriving plant and bird population.

Logstor has two harbours but most visiting yachts moor in the Kanalhavn on the west side. Many moorings in the canal at Logstor are side-to and in busy summer weekends boats raft out from each side almost clogging the waterway. The town is built on a hillside and because of its history as a trading and fishing port has much to offer in old world character. It also contains a very pleasant modern shopping area.

The pretty island of Livo is only 8 miles away. Its small harbour can accommodate about 20 boats and is joined to the only village on the island by a straight road bordered by wild roses - absolutely beautiful. Cars and dogs are prohibited but it is possible in a few hours to walk round the whole island except for protected seal sanctuary on the shingle bank in the southeast corner. No sooner had we tied up when a Swedish trailer sailor and his wife came over to greet us. It turned out that they were fellow members of the UK Trail and Sail Association - it's a small world. We spent much of the afternoon swapping ideas about the ideal boat and best cruising areas. Unfortunately they had to leave in the late afternoon but then we met a young Danish couple from one of the other boats in the harbour. They spoke good English and later on we enjoyed an excellent meal in the village restaurant.

The passage from Livo to Fur required sailing past the seal sanctuary and round the southeast tip of the long Livo Tap tail. Using binoculars we could see seals basking on the shingle. In midsummer the seals give birth to their young.

The island of Fur is larger than Livo and its 9 square miles contain several types of landscape of interest to geologists. The harbour is very busy, particularly with car ferries which bustle back and forth every few minutes. We noted that Brackenbury's sketch of the harbour is now out of date as the number and layout of the pontoon berths has changed. The passage from Fur to Mors is fairly short and so we decided to spend the morning cycling round the north of the island (bicycles can be hired cheaply from a little shop near the harbour).

Nykobing, our next stop, is a 350 berth harbour on the east coast of Mors. Brackenbury's pilot recommends the NW basin of the Fiskerhaven as it is nearer the toilets and shops but we found that new facilities had been built serving the marina area on the SW side. The old Fiskerhaven is now a little run down and as the difference in distance to the shops is only marginal, we preferred the western basin. The town centre has a popular pedestrian precinct offering a wealth of shops and a number of restaurants, including Chinese and an Italian Pizza house.

Brilliant sunshine greeted the day chosen for our break from sailing. We wanted to visit the famous Jesperhus Blomster Park which is only a 15 minute bus ride away. The flower park was opened in 1966 and now covers 15 acres. It houses a bird zoo, aquarium, butterfly farm and children's playground. Over half a million flowers were resplendent in their summer colours whilst the cacti were almost bulging out of their greenhouse. Waterfalls and fountains provide a soothing backdrop to more than 100 varieties of roses. We were impressed with the excellent playareas provided for the children - the Danish seem particularly good at this. An enjoyable excursion, even though we had reverted from being trailer sailors into more traditional tourists for a day.

Page 4       <<< prev page     next page>>>